Giving your team the opportunity to work from home can be tricky business. Who knows how distracted they can get without you around to keep them on track? Still, working remotely has its advantages, for both you and your employees - even if you feel disconnected from them.
It doesn't have to be that way, though. By taking certain steps and measures, you'll feel like your out-of-office team is right in the office with you. Here are a couple of tricks you can use to bring your remote employees into your office... remotely!
Change Up Your Team Meeting Routine
One of the best ways to connect with your remote team is to set up regular meetings rather than last-minute impromptu meetings. Pick a day of the week that works for everyone, and make sure you stick to the schedule. Once everyone gets in the groove of things, you'll find it much easier to stay in touch with everyone and make sure they are staying on top of things. Just make sure that you send out any documents that need to be discussed with enough time to review them prior to the meeting - otherwise, you risk a disconnection with your remote team and your in-house team (exactly the opposite of what you want).
Even the incorporation of little things, such as small talk before the actual meeting itself, will help you feel like you are being a good boss. Discuss how everyone is doing in their own lives, then segue that into the pros and cons of last week's meeting or the status of their current project.
Additionally, you can make sure that you are including your out-of-office team members equally by asking for their opinion on things before discussing it with your in-house team members. This prevents you from forgetting that they exist, and their input is just as valuable as your other workers.
How Can I Set Up Electronic Meetings?
There are several methods that you can use to keep in touch with your remote team. Several online applications allow for voice and video chat, such as Skype, Google Hangouts, and Citrix GoToMeeting. Grove Networks can hook you up with the tools you need to access your remote employees (based on your specific needs), and we can even help you configure them so you can easily keep in touch with your remote team, as well as our own remote team here at Grove Networks.
Some Face-to-Face Time Works Wonders
No matter how much interaction you have between you and your remote employees, it just isn't the same as having them at your fingertips at any given moment. Meeting up occasionally can be beneficial to the relationship between you and your remote employees. Set up a meeting every couple of months and do something fun - go out to eat to discuss business, or work on a team activity of sorts to get the mind moving. It's best if you leave your schedule fairly open when you schedule a meeting such as this - you never know what kind of shenanigans could pop up, business or otherwise!
Having remote team members means taking responsibility for whether they are doing their jobs or not, and it's up to both parties to maintain that communication. Grove Networks can help you acquire tools to keep in touch with both IT support and your remote team. With Grove Networks at the helm, you can rest assured that your remote IT tech needs are met, and you can take advantage of the tools we provide you with to make sure that your remote team is doing everything they should be!
